Taking a page from Cuba Gooding, Jr. in the movie Jerry Maguire, a new rule in South Florida courts has homeowners and foreclosure defense attorneys screaming: “SHOW! ME! THE! NOTE!!!”

Until now, banks have been abusing a Florida statute allowing them to file a foreclosure based on a “lost note.” The problem: the notes aren’t lost; the banks are just too lazy to look for them. This new rule is halting foreclosure filings in their tracks, as banks scramble to find the notes so they can foreclose.

Before, foreclosure mills were simply filing a complaint and claiming a ‘”lost note,” without actually ever looking for it. Now, the courts are requiring attorneys to prove the banks have at least attempted to find the note. Prior to this rule, banks would file the complaint, and the note would always mysteriously appear four months later IN ALMOST EVERY CASE.

An article published today in The Sun-Sentinel found foreclosure filings have dropped 36% since last month in South Florida. Local attorneys and judges are attributing this to the colossal mess at the banks, as they scramble to find the notes.

Before, they had plenty of time to look for it. Now, they can’t do anything without it. While this might seem like good news for the overwhelmed court system, in reality it is simply delaying the inevitable. Like the receding waters before a tsunami, we can expect a substantial increase in filings once the banks begin finding these “lost notes,” and then the entire system could drown.

Anthony DiMarco of the Florida Bankers Association sees it a bit differently, claiming the decrease in filings is due to the banks’ increased number of loan modifications, and an increased willingness to approve short sales.Continue reading→

A silent rebellion has begun. This time there will be no drums or shots fired. In fact, no one will hear anything. Not even footsteps.

Homeowners have reached a tipping point of sorts: 7 million homeowners are currently underwater. They are defaulting on their mortgages. One by one they are part of Shay’s Rebellion 2.0, a rebellion being fought on the frontlines of foreclosure through strategic default.

This time however, it’s not just western Massachusetts, but a silent battalion of millions of underwater homeowners across every state that have declared a consumer rebellion. These new warriors are no longer worried about a bad credit score; instead they are concerned with their family’s economic future. They no longer trust a Congress they believe has been hijacked by a few large financial institutions. They also instinctively know their collective actions can quickly have devastating consequences to these oligarchic financial institutions.

This time, the Rebellion is a boycott caused by the banks’ own audacity, by thinking that they could take over the polity of this nation by growing too large for any President, Federal Reserve, or Congress.

Most experts suggest families are making a rational economic decision in walking away. Businesses decide to walk away from investments all the time. Oppenheim Law recognizes that families have an obligation to themselves and may feel compelled to break contracts just like any commercial real estate owner.

In fact, Time Equities, the owner of Tudor City in Manhattan, did exactly that when they walked away from billions in the largest strategic default in the history of the United States. Did we hear anyone say such conduct by these owners was immoral or unethical?Continue reading→

Strategic defaults are here to stay: It’s estimated that at least 1 million homeowners who can afford to pay their mortgage chose to simply walk away last year, according to CBS and 60 Minutes.

After doing the math and watching property values shrink in some instances to less than half of what’s owed on a mortgage, homeowners are opting to rid their underwater property and start fresh.

According to 60 Minutes, more than 11 million homeowners across the country are underwater, and it’s estimated that number could double in the next year.

This means nearly half of all American mortgage holders will owe more on their homes than those homes are currently worth.

Oppenheim Law has presented the theory of strategic default in our monthly Florida Foreclosure Defense Workshops and also with FOX News WSVN and CBS 4 News. Check out the videos below.

“We’ve been through an event that none of us have ever experienced in this country since the Depression,” David Stevens, the commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration, told Morley Safer and 60 Minutes.

We have been talking about this issue for years now and finally the Florida Attorney General is investigating how the Banks and their attorneys are abusing the judicial system by submitting falsified documents that would allow the Banks to foreclose on properties that they do not have the right to foreclose upon. This is why you must question every document that is submitted to the Court and cannot assume that the documents are true and correct…

Fla. AG’s office has received dozens of homeowner complaints about questionable court documents filed by firm’s lawyers, according to a source

Paola Iuspa-Abbott

Daily Business Review

May 11, 2010

The Florida attorney general is investigating one of the nation’s largest foreclosure law firms over allegations it falsified legal documents to expedite foreclosure cases filed by its lender clients.

Tampa-based Florida Default Law Group “appears to be fabricating and/or presenting false and misleading documents in foreclosure cases,” according to the attorney general’s Economic Crimes Division in Fort Lauderdale, which is leading the investigation.

The office of Attorney General Bill McCollum is reviewing consumer complaints, taking depositions and researching the company’s business practices to determine whether Florida Default has violated any state laws.

The investigation is based on allegations that Florida Default lawyers submitted misleading documents to judges hearing foreclosure cases. The documents included assignments of mortgage that “have later been shown to be legally inadequate and/or insufficient,” according to an April 28 statement by the attorney general’s office when the investigation was opened.

The attorney general’s office has received dozens of complaints from homeowners about questionable court documents filed by Florida Default’s lawyers, according to a source familiar with the probe.Continue reading→